1837 - 1838: Oliver Twist to "The Divinity School Address"

Chronology of World, British and American Literature

Dickens. British. 1837/39. Novel. Oliver Twist. Depicts the world of poverty, crime, and workhouse of 19^th-century London. Illustrates that poverty breeds crime.

Edgar A. Poe. American. 1838. Novel. The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym. New England boy stows away on a whaler followed by mutiny, savagery, cannibalism, pursuit. In the end, emergence of great white figure. Intrigued Melville.

Edgar A. Poe. American. 1838. Story. “Ligeia.” Narrator’s mysterious dark-haired wife dies after lingering illness. Marries Rowena. She dies. In opium state, he sees corpse of Rowena arise. She has been transformed into Ligeia.

Dickens. British. 1838. Novel. Nicholas Nickleby. Attacks schools and school masters; led to reformation.

Ralph Waldo Emerson. American. 1838. Speech. “The Divinity School Address.” Stressed the divinity of man and the humanity of Christ. Denied miracles. Did not quote scripture. Upheld intuition, rather than ritual, as a means of knowing God. Shocked conservative clergymen.

1836 - 1837: "Nature" to The French Revolution

Chronology of World, British and American Literature

Ralph W. Emerson. American. 1836. Essay. “Nature.” Behind every natural fact, the transcendentalist finds a spiritual truth.

Georg Buchner. German. 1836. Play. Woyzeck. Social, economic injustices that led to wife’s faithlessness and husband’s murder of her. Quick succession of short, meaningful scenes. Treats human agony in pure state.

Nikolay Gogol. Russian. 1836. Play. The Inspector General. Mistaken identity. Run-of-mill civil servant mistaken for Inspector. Goes along. Found out, leaves town.

Nathaniel Hawthorne. American. 1837. Stories. Twice-Told Tales. “Howe’s Masquerade”; “The Grey Champion”; “The Great Carbuncle”; “The Minister’s Black Veil.”

Thomas Carlyle. British. 1837. History. The French Revolution. Central motif is the nemesis that follows upon oppression of the poor.

1835 - 1836: Danton's Death to Pickwick Papers

Chronology of World, British and American Literature

Georg Buchner. German. 1835. Play. Danton’s Death. Starkly realistic. Tired, apathetic in beginning; idealistic commitment when he defies Robespierre.

Nathaniel Hawthorne. American. 1835. Story. “Young Goodman Brown.” Young Puritan discovers that all his respected townsmen, even his wife, are in league with Satan.

Elias Lonnrott (Compiler). Finnish. 1835/49. Epic Tradition. Kalevala. Finnish national epic. Origin of the world. Adventures of three sons of Kaleva.

Ralph Waldo Emerson. American. 1836. Poetry. “Concord Hymn.” “Shot heard ‘round the world.”

Dickens. British. 1836. Novel. Pickwick Papers. Contains well known characters and caricatures. Letters and manuscripts about club’s activities. If you have not read it, it's hilarious.

1833 - 1835: "In Memoriam" to "Berenice"

Chronology of World, British and American Literature

Tennyson. British. 1833/50. Poetry. “In Memoriam.” In addition to an elegy for Hallam, Themes include the decline of faith, rise of skepticism and scientific materialism.

Wm. Gilmore Simms. American. 1835. Novel. The Yemassee. Conflict between South Carolina Yemassee Indians and British in 1715. Son betrays tribe and is killed by his mother. Helplessness of Indians as they lose their lands to advancing white civilization.

Nikolay Golgol. Russian. 1835. Novel. Taras Bulba. Seventeenth-century wars between Poles and Cossacks in the Ukraine. Russian son falls I love with a Pole and deserts; killed by father. Other son and the father are killed by the Poles.

Angel Saavedra Rivas. Spanish. 1835. Play. Don Alvaro o la fuerta del sino. Alvaro accidentally kills father of girl he loves and her two brothers. Before he dies, one brother kills the girl. Alvaro commits suicide.

Edgar Allan Poe. American. 1835. Story. “Berenice.” Love for epileptic cousin. Has her teeth drawn when she is presumed dead. She comes to life.

1833: Eugenie Grandet to Tracts for the Times

Chronology of World, British and American Literature

Balzac. French. 1833. Novel. Eugenie Grandet. Father, embodiment of greed and domestic tyranny, condemns his daughter to futile, joyless existence.

Thomas Carlyle. British. 1833. Satire. Sartor Resartus. Idealist finally realizes that the here and actual are the true ideal. Title: “Tailor Retailored.”

Balzac. French. 1833. Novel. The Country Doctor. Kindly spirit and indefatigable efforts on behalf of people of his village. Universally beloved.

Aleksandr Pushkin. Russian. 1833. Poetry. The Bronze Horseman. Ordinary individual vs. the power of the state. Curses statue of Peter the Great. Blames him for his fiancée’s death.

JH Newman. British. 1833/41. Nonfiction. Tracts for the Times. Designed to arrest the advance of liberalism in religious thought.

1831 - 1833: Hunchback of Notre Dame to "The Queen of Spades"

Chronology of World, British and American Literature

Victor Hugo. French. 1831. Romance. The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Romance of medieval times. Esmeralda; Capt. Phoebus; Frollo; Quasimodo, the deformed bell ringer.

Thomas Love Peacock. British. 1831. Novel. Crotchet Castle. Satire on romantic themes. Humorously erudite discussions. Debate on the best period in history.

George Sand. British. 1832. Novel. Indiana. Heroine, a Creole named Indiana, abandons old husband for fascinating young lover.

Washington Irving. American. 1832. Stories. The Legends of the Alhambra. Tales and sketches on Spanish subjects. Admirer of Moorish civilization. Clash between the Spaniard and the Moors.

Aleksandr Pushkin. Russian. 1833. Story. “The Queen of Spades.” Calm, matter-of-fact telling of the mental breakdown of a gambler.

1830 - 1831: The Red and the Black to "The City in the Sea"

Chronology of World, British and American Literature

Stendahl. French. 1830. Novel. The Red and the Black. Plot is romantic. Portrait of hero’s inner state is realistic.

Aleksandr Pushkin. Russian. 1830. Stories. Tales of Belkin. Stationmaster is one of the first characeters in Russian literature who is not a member of the nobility.

Oliver Wendell Holmes. American. 1830. Poetry. “Old Ironsides.” Written when Holmes read of the Navy’s plans to scrap the old frigate.

Aleksandr Pushkin. Russian. 1831. Verse Drama. Eugene Onegin. Byronic hero. Bored. In duel kills friend. Hollow, artificial. Ironic narrator. Not interested in woman when she is interested in him. When he is interested in her, she will have none of him.

Edgar Allan Poe. American. 1831. Poetry. “The City in the Sea.” Grim landscape. Description of shrine. Melodic.